Work supporting attachment for proof presses



Nov. 8, 1932. 5.0. VANDERCOOK ET AL 1,885,923

WORK SUPPORTING ATTACHMENT FOR PROOF PRESSES I Filed June 1. 1931 2 sheets-sheet 1 "HUM III

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Patented Nov. 8, 1932 UNITED stares EDWARD 0. VANDERCOOK, nnvinn. VANDERCOOK, Ann rannnaici: a. "vaivnnacook,

ra es OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO VANDERGDOK 86;,SONS, A CO-PARTNEESHP CONSISTING 03 ROBERT O. VAND'EROOOK, EDW'ARD O. VANDERCOOK, DAVID 1).. VAN

DERCOOK, AND FREDERICK B. VANDERCOOK, ALL 035 EVANSTQN, ILLIITCIS ,WORK Sargon-Trixie a'rrAoHi/mnrron raoor rimssns Application filed June 1, 1931. Serial No. 541,208.

Our-invention relates to a work supporting attachment which is particularly useful on proof presses which are manually operated and of the type comprising a press bed and a ppinting roll for traveling-along the top there- Heretofore, in the operation of machines of the type referred to, the stock sheets on which proofs were to be printed, and the printed sheets, were supported and deposited on a table or other support adjacent to the press, and the transfer of sheets between the press and the support required unnecessary movement of the operator, and furthermore, the support took u considerable floor space.

Aniimportant 0 ject of the invention is, therefore, to provide supporting means care ried by and traveling with the Printing roll carriage and conveniently arranged so that the operator may conveniently operate the machine with one hand and with the other hand take the blank sheets from one part of the supporting attachment and feed them to v the printing roll and then receive the printed sheets from the roll and deposit them on another part of the supporting attachment, without unnecessary movement, so that the machine may be easily and accurately operatedfor the rapid production'of proofs, and

with asaving of floor space.

A further object is to provide a supporting attachment which maybe readily applied to or detached from the machine and which, when not in use, may be folded up to be-away from the press bed.

A further object is to adapt a section of the supporting attachment to form an extension to the feed plate forming part of the press proper so that sheets may be more readily fed to the printing roll.

The above referred to features and'other features are incorporated in the structure disclosed on the drawings,in which drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a proof press showing the supporting attachment in operating position; and

Figure 2 is a similar view with part of the roll supporting carriage broken away, and

a the supporting attachment in vertical section,

and showing also the manner of folding up the attachment. I I

The press structure shown comprises the rectangular bed frame 1 having on each side a track flange 2, and above it a gear rack 3. The roll supporting carriage comprises the side frames 4 and 5 cross connected by rods 6, each side frame journaling a set of wheels 7 engaging the respective rail flange 2'.

The printing roll 8 is mounted on a shaft 9 which at each end is journalled in a bearing frame 10, these bearing frames being piv-' oted or hinged at one side as indicated at 11 and supported at their other side by a cam bar 12 in such manner that the longitudinal shifting of the cam bar will swing the bearing frames to elevate the printing roll above the printing plate during return movement of the roll after a printing operation, the particular elevating mechanism forming no part of our present invention. A gear 13 is secured to each end of the printing roll and meshes with the corresponding rack 3 so that when the roll is turned by means of its crank handle 14, the gear will travel along the rack v to propel the roll carriage along the. machine bed frame in a manner well understood in the art. I i

At the'left end of the carriage an angle bar 15 extends between and is secured to the carriage side frames, its inner leg forming a support for a feed apron or plate 16 for feeding sheets to the underside ofthe roll, the

roll having the grippers 17 which will receive and automatically clamp a fed sheet to the or other set-up on the printing bed. A bar or shaft 18 extends between the left endsof the roll bearing frames 10 and is journaled at its ends in these frames and carries a row of delivery fingers 19 which at their inner ends project into the path of the roll to receive from the roll a printed sheet carried therewith by the grippers 17, a spring 20 tending to rotate the rod to keep the inner ends of the finger in association with the roll.

The printing machine thus far described operates in a well known manner, the grippers 17 carrying and delivering a printed roll and carry it with the roll across the type I sheet to the delivery fingers where it may be readily grasped and removed. 7

Describing now our improved support attachment, a table 21 has the left end and right end legs 22 and 23, respectively, for supporting the table on and above the roll carriage. The table top may be constructed of light sheet metal and the legs may be metal plates or bars. The right end legs have each a longitudinal notch 24 at the lower endfor receiving the cross shaft 25 which is journalled in brackets 26extending from the roll carriage side frames; This shaft forms part of the printing machine per se and has the o eratin handle or crank 27 at its front end By releasing the screws, the table structure may be readily removed from the machine. The table top may be provided with a rear wall 31 and a cross partition or stop 32, the wall and the stop serving to align a stack of sheets 33 which are to be printed,

At its outer end the feed plate 16 has a number of ears 34 for supporting a hinge pin or spindle 35, and a plate 36 has sections at its inner end bent around to receive the hinge spindle as indicated at 37, so that the plate 36 will be hinged to the feed plate 16. The plate 36 is preferably of metal and has the depending side flanges 38 and 39 which,

when the plate is in service position, abut at their inner ends against the outer leg of the angle bar'- 15 so as to support the plate parallel and in alignment with the feed plate'or apron 16 to form an extension thereon. To strengthen the plate 36, it may also have the outer depending flange 40. This plate 36 forming an extension on the apron 16 affords extended feeding surface and facilitates the feeding of sheets to the grippers 1'? on the printingroll.

Supported from the outer end of the feeding plate 36 is a delivery plate 41 preferably of sheet metal. The plate has the dependi a y u 0 b side flanges 42 and 43 which at their inner 1 ends are deflected downwardly to form an angle with the plate, these deflected ends 44 and 45 being spaced apart to receive between them the outer end of the feeding plate structure 36, the deflected ends being hinged to the-side flanges 38 and 39 of the feeding plate by hinge pins 46 and 4?. Extending downwardly in the outer ends of the flange extensions 45. to 46 are the notches 48 and 49, respectively, for receiving the abutment pins 50 and 51 extending, respectively, on the side flanges 38 and 39 of the feeding plate 36, so that the delivery plate 41, when in service position, will be held in a downwardly inclined position. Lat its outer end the plate 41 may have the upstanding flange 52 serving to support and align the printed sheets deposited on the plate 41.

Describing now the use and operation of our invention, a stack of sheets 33 to be printed is laid on the top of the table 21 where the sheets are held in alignment by the flange 31 and cross wall 32. Preferably, the left end legs 22 are longer than the right end legs so as to give the table top an inclination which will tend to keep the stock sheets against the aligning walls. On the drawings, the carriage is shown'as a short'distance from the right end of its stroke; hen the carriageis at the right end of its stroke, the operator, with his left hand, takes one of the sheets from the table 21 and by means of the feed plate 36 and apron 16, guides the sheet to the printing "roll and then withhis right hand and with the handle 14 he rotates the feed roll to propel the carriage towards the left. When the roll starts to rotate, the gripper members 17 receive the advancing edge'of the sheet and clamp it to the roll and then during continued revolving of the roll, this paper is carried with and impressed by the roll on the set-up to be printed, and towards the end of the carriage stroke the printed sheet is delivered by the grippers to the delivery fingers 19, the grippers being unclamped from the sheet and thenpropelling it adistance along the delivery fingers as the roll completes its rotation. A delivered sheet X is indicated in dotted lines on Figure 2 and the operator grasps the sheet and lays it on the delivery plate 41. He then rotates the roll to propel the carriage back to the right end of its stroke 'andtakes another sheet from the stack on the table 21 and feeds it to the roll and the same operation is repeated. As the stroke of a proof press is comparatively'short, the operator need not move back and forth with the traveling carriage but with his right hand he will control the movement of the carriage and the printing roll, while with his left hand he will feed the stock sheets'to the roll and will receive the printed sheets from the roll and deposit them on the delivery table 41 so that, during operation of the machine, no unnecessary time consuming and tiring movements on the part of the operator are necessary and a rapid and accurate production of proofs results.

As the feeding section and the'delivery section of the attachment are well above'the press bed, access may be readily had to the press bed. However, if desired, the sections 36 and 41 may be folded up out of the way, the section 31 being swung to upright-position and the section 41 being then swung down against the table section 21 as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2. To entirely remove the sections 36 and 41, the hinge pin 37 is withdrawn, and by loosening the screws 29, the table section 21 may be removed from the machine. Application of the supporting structure to the machine is as readily accomplished. As the supporting parts may be made of light metal, the weight thereof will be immaterial so far as operation of the machine is concerned.

We have shown a practical and efficient embodiment of the various features of our invention, but we do not desire to be limited to the exact construction and arrangement shown, as modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. I

We claim as our invention:

1. The combination with a press of the type described, of a table mounted on the press carriage for supporting stock to be printed, a plate forming an extension to the feed board of the press, and a delivery plate extending from said feed board extension for receiving the printed sheet.

2. The combination with a press of the type described, of a plate hinged to the press feed board to form an extension thereon, and a'delivery plate extending from said extension plate to form a support for receiving the printed sheets.

3. The combination with a press of the type described, of a plate hinged to the press carriage to form an extension from the press feed board, and a delivery plate hinged to the outer end of said feed extension plateon which delivery plate the printed sheets may 7 be deposited, said hinge connection permitting said feed extension plate to be swung upwardly and said delivery plate to be swung laterally to clear the press bed.

4:. The combination with a press of the class described, of a supporting table structure detachably mounted on the press carriage to support stock to be printed, a feed plate forming an extension on the press feed board, and a delivery plate extending from the end of said feed extension plate, said feed extension plate having hinge support on the press carriage whereby it may be swung to upright position.

5. The combination with a press of the type described, of a table structure detachably mounted on the press carriage, a feed plate forming an extension on the press feed board, a delivery plate extending from the end of the feed extension plate, said feed extension plate having hinge support on the press carriage and said delivery plate being hinge supported by said feed extension plate whereby said plates may be folded up to clear the press bed.

6. The combination with a press of the type described, of a table detachably mounted on the press carriage above the printing cylinder to form a support for stock to be printed, a plate forming an extension on the press feed board, a delivery board extending diagonally downwardly from the outer end of the extension feed plate, said extension feed plate being hinge supported on the press carriage and said delivery plate being hinge supported on said feed extension plate whereby said plates may be swung together and up to clear the press bed.

7. The combination with a press of the type described, of a table mounted on the press carriage for supporting stock to be printed, and a plate forming an extension to the feed board of the press for facilitating the manual feeding of sheets to beprinted.

8. The combination with a press of the type described, of a substantially horizontal table mounted on the press carriage above the printing cylinder thereon to form a support for a stack of sheets to be manually fed to the cylinder for printing.

9. The combination with a press comprising a carriage having-a printing cylinder provided with grippers, a table mounted on the carriage above the cylinder to form a support for the stock to be printed, a feed board placed at an angle to hold a single sheet so that the grippers on the cylinder may I receive it, and a delivery board placed so that the operators hand may transfer a printed sheet from the printing cylinder to the delivery board by a single short and easy motion.

10. The combination with a press of the type described comprising a carriage and a printing cylinder thereon having grippers, of a feed board placed to hold a sheet to be printed in position ready to be received by the grippers, a delivery mechanism for receiving the printed sheet from the cylinder and carrying it away from said cylinder so that it may be grasped by the operator, and a delivery board close to the delivery mechanism on which the printed 'sheetmay be deposited.

11. The combination with a press of the type described comprising a carriage sup porting a printing cylinder having grippers thereon for gripping sheets to be printed, of a feed bar placed to guide a sheet into position to be received by the grippers, ,de-

livery means for deflecting and guiding a 

